‘Star Trek’ Game Criticism By J.J. Abrams Leaves Developer ‘Shaken’

Star Trek game criticism by film director J.J. Abrams wasn’t taken lightly, it seems. The game itself had earned a relatively lukewarm review across the board, scoring below average, while Star Trek Into Darkness actually earned much more positive reviews.

Star Trek: The Video Game was meant to happen chronologically between the Chris Pine reboot of the film and its sequel, but rushed development led it to an average score in the 40s out of 100. Star Trek Into Darkness was much better received, with an average score in the 70s on Metacritic, but that didn’t stop the fanboys from tearing the film apart. Apparently some hardened older fans considered the film to be the worst remake of all time, but that’s about par on the internet these days.

J.J. Abrams didn’t take the criticism of Star Trek Into Darkness lightly, and in return blamed the video game. Despite actually working with the studio, he said that Digital Extremes’ game “without question didn’t help the movie, and arguably hurt it”

The Star Trek game’s criticism hurt Digital Extremes creative director Stephen Sinclair. It was supposedly rushed out to coincide with the film, and rarely does a video game perform well with critics under those conditions. Technically, the blame should have been cast the other way, if at all. The film allegedly caused the video game to be rushed and hurt the game.

The game’s creative director told the press:

“I think if the owner of the company was here he’d be doing that neck thing with his hand, like, ‘say nothing!’ I don’t think J.J. was trying to throw Digital Extremes under a bus, I think he was talking about the political forces that were affecting the game. I don’t mean to speak cryptically, and I’m not trying to diffuse blame, but the game we did just before that was The Darkness 2 and it was the same crew working on that game as it was on Star Trek. That game came out with an 80-plus Metacritic rating. The ambitions were high for Star Trek and there’s some awesome co-op stuff there. I was kind of surprised, personally, to see one of the most awesome, popular and successful film directors working today slagging on that project. It kind of shook me, actually.”

While the Star Trek game criticism haunted its developer, it could be said that J.J. Abrams himself is under a lot of pressure after being slammed by Star Trek fans for Into Darkness. After all, he’s now in charge of a project that could make or break his career. If he messes up Star Wars, J.J. Abrams will most likely be listed alongside Michael Bay as one of the most disappointing directors today.

Do you think the Star Trek game criticism from J.J. Abrams was warranted, or did he cross a line he shouldn’t have?